Supporting Military Families at the 2023 Hometown Heroes Toy Drive
It’s the 8th Annual Hometown Heroes Toy Drive! AZTV 7 and Desert Financial Credit Union have teamed up with Valley of the Sun United Way, along with local area businesses, to help bring the joy of the holidays to families throughout Arizona. For more information visit https://www.aztv.com/hometownheroes-2023
Transcript
00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 - All right, so I am now here with General McGuire,
00:13 who is a 38 year veteran of the Air Force,
00:16 and you're also a native Arizonan, is that right?
00:20 - Well, I actually was born in California,
00:22 but my family has roots back to 1930 in this state.
00:25 My dad was a naval officer, no Navy bases in Arizona.
00:29 - You're right, you gotta go to California for that.
00:30 Well, I'm also a California transplant,
00:32 but don't tell anybody.
00:34 But we are here celebrating
00:36 this really incredible event tonight,
00:38 and we wanted to talk with you and get a little bit
00:40 of kind of how you feel knowing
00:43 that there are military members here tonight
00:45 who they've potentially been away from their families,
00:47 they've been separated at a time like this.
00:49 I mean, how does that make you feel?
00:50 'Cause you've experienced that yourself.
00:52 - I have, I actually was thinking about that today.
00:54 One of the most difficult things to do
00:57 for any military member is not deploying themselves,
01:01 but leaving their family behind,
01:02 especially with kids that know what's going on,
01:05 that you're not gonna be home in just a couple nights,
01:07 it's gonna be months, literally.
01:09 And at this event every year,
01:11 and I've been honored for the last three years
01:13 to be able to be here, we didn't do this in 2020,
01:15 but in 2019, before that, we honor our Gold Star families
01:20 whose unfortunately their loved ones never returned,
01:23 our disabled veterans and families
01:26 of deployed service members who are overseas,
01:29 and we pray that they're in good health
01:31 and get home soon and safely,
01:33 and hopefully we can bring some joy to their families.
01:36 - Absolutely, and that's our prayer as well,
01:37 that they get home safe, and for those family
01:40 who maybe their loved ones are not going to come back,
01:43 this is a way to give them just a little bit
01:45 of that Christmas joy, which is so, so special.
01:48 So when they are here and they're gonna go get a toy,
01:50 I mean, how do you hope that these kids feel
01:53 on Christmas morning, I mean,
01:54 when they have this amazing experience?
01:57 - Yeah, it's amazing what all the sponsors do.
02:01 AZTV7 has been just a huge supporter
02:05 of our hometown heroes and Helping Hands
02:07 and all of these outreach events,
02:08 but what I want the kids to feel is they see that toy
02:12 and they remember the reason they're doing this
02:14 on Christmas day is because their family member isn't there
02:18 and it'll give them a chance to really think
02:20 about what Christmas is about.
02:22 It's nice for them to get toys,
02:23 but I know this will be a reminder of their mother,
02:26 father, uncle, aunt, whoever it is
02:30 that they're thinking about that morning.
02:32 I think that's the greatest thing about this opportunity.
02:35 - And you know, you just made me think of something
02:37 that I think is so beautiful because you are,
02:40 well, everybody here tonight is taking some
02:42 of the pressure off of those family members
02:44 who are the ones who are deployed,
02:46 because it's gotta be so hard to be the one
02:48 who's out and away from your family.
02:50 - Yeah, it is.
02:51 I used to say that people would thank me for my service,
02:55 but it is really the sacrifices of the family members
02:58 because they didn't, you know, raise their right hand
03:00 and say they're willing to do it,
03:02 but they willingly loved a service member
03:05 and make much greater emotional sacrifices at times
03:10 than any of us.
03:11 And I think that gets lost sometimes.
03:13 And I would just ask all my fellow servicemen and women
03:16 to never forget that.
03:17 Be thankful for those that say thank you for your service
03:20 and always understand your family's gonna come first.
03:23 - Oh, that's so beautiful.
03:24 You're like gonna make me a little emotional
03:26 because it really is.
03:26 It's not just about the one member in any way.
03:29 It's the entire family unit.
03:31 Well, this is really, really beautiful.
03:33 Thank you for chatting with us.
03:34 And let's just continue to enjoy this wonderful night.
03:37 - Merry Christmas to everybody
03:38 and pray that everybody has a happy holidays
03:41 and a great 2024.
03:42 Thank you.
03:43 - Amazing, me too.
03:44 Thank you so much, General.
03:45 All right, guys, stick around
03:46 we got more coming up after this.
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